It's Just Like Riding A Bike

It's been a while since I've written a blog, but it's been a very busy spring so far.  There have been cookouts to go to and yard work to be done.  I've also decided this spring that I'm going to get back into cycling.  I used to ride several years back and when I was riding, I felt good.  First of all, I felt healthier and that by itself is enough to continue, but I also felt a sense of accomplishment.  Anytime I would complete a distance longer than any I had done before or climb a mountain a little bit faster than I did previously, I felt like I had really done something.

To get back to riding, I first had to make time, so I decided which days and times I would ride.  Nothing gets accomplished without a plan.  Then I stopped by the bike shop one day just to see what was going on in the biking world since I had been gone.  I talked to the owner, Richard, and told him I was thinking of getting back into riding.  The first thing he told me about was the group rides that take place every week.  With all the advances in equipment, with lighter bikes and more comfortable clothing, why would he tell me about the group rides?  Because he's smart.  From a business stand point, Richard knows that if I get connected with people, that I am more likely to stay in cycling and not drift back to the couch.  If I stay in cycling, I am more likely to come back in to his shop and make purchases.  But from a personal stand point, I believe that he really wants me to enjoy cycling the way he enjoys it.  I believe he knows that the best way for me to learn and advance as a cyclist is to be around other cyclist who are better and faster than I am.  He knows I'll learn techniques to help me improve and my involvement in cycling will be more fulfilling.

Immediately I began to see the parallels as they relate to church.  I know that if people get connected through volunteering or small groups in our church, they are more likely to stay.  But deep down, I want them to experience the same joy of being a believer that I do.  I know that the best way for people to grow spiritually is to be in community with other people who are perhaps a little farther along in their faith than they are or have different life experiences than they do.  I know they'll learn principles that will make their life more fulfilling.

People tell me all the time that they want to go deeper in their faith.  Maybe, that's what you're thinking.  Are you involved in a small group with other people or are you serving together with a group?  You should try it.  It's just like riding a bike.  There will be some hills to climb, but there's nothing like the thrill of coming down the other side.  And you'll be stronger for it.

Back To The Future

I've heard the question asked many times, "Would you like to go back to high school and do it all over again?"  For some people the question brings back the feelings of not fitting in, the pressures of the social structure and they immediately respond, "No!"  Most people, however, say they would go back if they could know what they know now.

Over the last several months, I have been reconnecting with classmates from high school via Facebook.  The other night we got together for dinner at a local restaurant.  Many of them I really didn't know that well in high school.  I've even had to go back and look in the yearbook to see who a few of them were.

Something interesting is happening, though.  Through their status updates, the pictures they post, and in some cases direct messages, I feel I know most of them better than I did in high school. I know where they like to eat, what they like to do for fun, and how much their kids look like them.  I feel there are some real friendships forming.  In high school, we were all trying to figure out who we were and who we were going to be.  We wanted to be a part of the crowd and at the same time be unique individuals.  Now, most of that is settled.  We are comfortable in our own skins; we are confident in who we turned out to be.  And, maybe now we understand how valuable genuine relationships are.

Would I go back and do it all again knowing what I know now?  Maybe I already am.

What would you do different?

I May Be On A Diet

Scripture challenges me.  Many times when I'm reading, a passage jumps off the page at me.  It causes me to look at my life critically.

This morning, I was reading the beatitudes in Matthew 5.  I've read them many times before and I remember studying them in Vacation Bible School as a kid.  But this morning, verse 6 jumped out at me.  It says, "Blesses are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied" (ESV).

Reading that caused me to ask the question - How hungry am I for righteousness?  How intense is my appetite?  When I get hungry for food, there is very little that can stand in my way of getting it - SERIOUSLY!  You can look at me and tell I don't miss many meals.

Here's what I find, though:  I am starved for righteousness - in other people's lives.  In my dealings with others, I can always see how they could be more righteous and make better decisions.  I crave righteousness for them especially when it's me that's not being treated very well.  In my life, however, not so much.  Oh sure, I want to do the right thing, I want to treat people fairly, I want to live with integrity, but am I hungry for it?  Do I have a deep, internal craving for good?

How about you?  How hungry are you?

Can't We Be Friends?

Tonight, my daughter Bryanna is going to a sleep over at one of her friend’s house.  She has been very excited all week.  Each morning at breakfast she has reminded me and Michael how many more days until she goes to Jessica’s.  Yesterday, the day before the big event, she couldn’t hardly contain herself.  Why is she so excited?  Is it because Jessica has better toys than she does?  Is her mom a better cook?  Maybe they have more video games.  Maybe she just wants to get away from us?

I don’t think any of that is the case.  I think it’s because that’s the way she’s wired.  In fact, I think it’s how we are all wired.  I think each one of us has a built in desire to be connected with other people.  We were made for relationships.  God designed each one of us to operate best in community with other people.  

As we get older, we tend to suppress that need because of our own personal hang ups, but it is still there.  Sometimes we get so busy, we just don’t have time to invest in relationships.

In the past couple of years, I have been intentional about building relationships and it has made a huge difference in my life.  Not all of the relationships have turned out well.  I have been hurt deeply by people that I was very close to, but over all the results have been positive.  I actually get excited when we are meeting our friends for dinner or our small group is coming over.  I can’t wait when I get the opportunity to play golf with a friend.

So, I challenge you to take stock of the relationships in your life.  Do you have some good friends that you are doing life with?  If not, take the time.  Go have coffee with someone.  Invite someone over to dinner.  Don’t have a sleep over, though, that could be weird.

Lessons From Kids

God is love. I’m still trying to learn that lesson.

I used to have a very hard time reconciling the angry, judgmental God of the Old Testament with the loving, forgiving God of the New Testament.  What made it even harder was the legalistic churches I had attended.  Back then it was all about the rules.  You had to wear the right clothes, watch the right TV shows (or certainly not watch the wrong ones), read the right Bible, say the right things... to make God love you more.

All of that changed, that whole perspective, when we had kids.  I then saw how angry I could get when they subverted my attempts to keep them safe while at the same time loving them so much I can’t even describe it.  It all started to make sense.

This weekend marks eight years since Steph and I brought two little kids home and started the journey of adoption.  Eight years later I’m still learning how to be a father.  And, eight years later Bryanna and Michael are still teaching me about my heavenly father and how He loves me.

Numbers

This past weekend was Easter.  We had 809 people show up to 3 services.  First let me put that number in context:

• We have been averaging 425-450 people for the last several months
• The last several weeks we have crept up to around 500 in regular attendance.

I know what many of you are thinking.  It’s not about the numbers, right?  I’m going to stick my neck out and give you my opinion... IT IS MOST DEFINITELY ABOUT THE NUMBERS!  That number represents people... people that need Jesus.  We want large numbers to come so we can tell them about Jesus, that they were created on purpose and God has a plan for their lives.  He wants them to be a part of His family.

A couple of random things about the number:

• We limited advertising this year and depended on our attenders to invite their friends.
• We believed God was going to do something big and acted on it.  Our senior pastor, Scott Flippin, mobilized a team to build an additional classroom in an unfinished part of our building to handle extra children.  Those involved didn’t question or doubt what God was going to do.  The room was put together (framing, wiring, drywall, painting, lighting, furniture and decor) in 10 days.
• We are not in competition with other churches.  I was hesitant to even publish the number for fear that it might sound like that.  We are in competition with culture (television, sporting events, leisure activities and doing nothing).

This afternoon I was reading in Deuteronomy 9 and God was telling the people of Israel that He wasn’t giving them the promised land because they were so good.  No, His focus was on the current inhabitants of the land.  He didn’t bless us this weekend because our church is so great or the staff did such a good job with preparations or because the volunteers were inspired to build a new classroom.  No, His focus was on the ones that don’t know Him yet.  That’s where our focus should be, too, down to the last number.

Doggone

I love our dog. She is a 10 year old Labrador retriever. The bad thing about retrievers, though, is that they retrieve things. Sometimes in the summer we let the cucumbers get too big before we pick them. If they are no good, we throw them down through the woods. Later we find them back in our yard… because we have a retriever.

Right now our yard is strewn with various parts of deer skeletons left over from hunts last fall; an assortment of small bones, larger bones, a skull and an entire rib cage. I tossed them all down into the woods the other day before I mowed. Today they are all back… because we have a retriever.

The thought occurred to me though that of all the things God is, He’s not a retriever when it comes to our screw ups. When we make mistakes, we acknowledge it, ask forgiveness and He never brings it up to us again (Psalm 103:12). We don’t constantly have to step over old bones from our past. Other people might remind us, but God doesn’t. That’s a good feeling. Stepping on a half rotten cucumber – not so good.